was a livi

eneath her skin raged hotter in response, as if the cold had made it angry. Every nerve ending was a live wire, sp

ognized as her own. Her fingers gripped the marble edges of the tub with desperate force, h

eathing, rough and uneven. She could feel the warmth of his bod

His voice was strained. "Your pulse is

e the cold is fighting the drug, and my body

s cool and clinical, and even that brief contact sent a violent shudder through her body. She couldn't help

still. She heard

rs, still pressed against her throat, trembled for one unguarded second before he steadied them. He was fight

otter than before. The cold water should h

of his wrist. She didn't mean to do it. Her body was moving on its own now,

th stuttered in his chest. His skin was warm against her lips, and she could taste the faint salt of him, the c

let him. Her own hand shot out of the water, drippi

y thing that helps. I don't understand it, but when I

s muscles were locked tight. He was fighting something. She could hea

with every word. "When I carried you. When you fell against me. It must have been absorbed through my skin. I can feel it. It's not as strong as what you're experiencing, but it's there. I

surging upward. Her hands found his shoulders, wet and bare where the robe had fallen away. She pulled

burning. Ju

d against his pulse, and she felt it leap in response. "

her there, trembling. She could feel the war raging inside him, the doctor and the man t

and broken thing. "I'm trying to do the right thing. I'm trying

" she whispered. "

surged upward, her body acting on pure

ear and pain and need that had been consuming her for hours. Her fingers t

ng heartbeat, n

is control

st bruising. He kissed her back like a man who had been drowning and had finally found air. His mouth moved against hers, hungry and demanding, no longer passive, no

eyes. The fire quieted. The pain receded. For one

She arched into his touch, her body responding to him in ways that had nothing to do with the drug. This was not just ch

suddenly as it b

hing over the edge of the tub. She heard him stumble backward, heard his s

doing." His voice broke, and she heard something in it she hadn't expected. Shame. Not for wanting her, but

sobs she couldn't control. The fire was already returning, stro

ow. It's so much worse. I can feel my hea

lse, and she heard him inhale sharply. When he spoke again, his voice was very qu

dred and fifty. At this rate, you'll go into cardiac arrest within minutes. The ambulance won't ge

he whispered.

ard him swallow, heard the rough

way. It bonds to the nervous system and can only be counteracted by physical intimacy.

, she understood. He was telling her

ered. "Please. I d

th. And then she felt his hand find hers, his fi